Nutley resident Jen Smyth asks a question Thursday during Roche's public meeting on environmental studies of its Clifton/Nutley campus, as Danielle Kaplonski and Pennie Landry wait their turn.

"Roche maintains responsibility for [environmental] cleanup, even after the sale of the property," said Tom Lyon, Roche vice president and the Clifton/Nutley site head.

He stated that Roche has submitted its report to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, in accordance with state and federal requirements. Thursday's meeting was the first of many to come, he said.

Roche hired TRC Environmental Corp.'s "licensed site remediation professionals" to supervise the site investigation and remediation, which are also under the watch of the NJDEP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Dawn Pompeo, TRC Environmental vice president and the local Roche site's project coordinator, said that the study and remediation were divided into 15 areas.

Soil testing

According to the report, contaminants detected in the area's soil, such as metal or pesticides, have not significantly impacted groundwater quality. This is "due to low solubility of the chemical compounds."

TRC's Pompeo said that more than 7,500 soil samples were tested on and off the Roche property. If a sample was contaminated, additional samples were tested, she said. Findings determined that soil contamination from Roche operations are contained onsite and not migrated offsite.

Nearly 500 monitoring wells were drilled on and off site. According to the report, TRC studied groundwater up to 700 feet below the surface.

Due to former Roche operations, some areas on the company's property are contaminated in the shallowest groundwater, 0 to 30 feet below. Deeper, from 30 to 80 feet, contamination extends to Nutley's Nichols Park area and stretches outward, the report states.

The groundwater under and near the Roche site contains VOC, such as benzene, oluene, chlorobenzene, methylene chloride, chloroform and tetrachloroethene, known as perchloroethylene or PCE. PCE is common in industrial and commercial areas that feature such things as dry cleaners, and ink and machine shops, according to the data.

Caramichael said that five cleanup alternatives include no action, chemical treatment, ozone treatment, a combination of thermal and chemical treatment, and a combination of thermal and biological treatment.

Surface water was also tested on and off of the site, including Springer Brook, St. Paul's Brook and the Valley Drain.

"Low concentrations of PCE were detected in the surface water in St. Paul's Brook and the Valley Drain upstream, within and downstream of the Roche site," according to the data.

Groundwater does not pose a health risk to residents, as it is not used for drinking water. Water supplied to Nutley and Clifton residents is from the Passaic Valley Water Commission and/or the City of Newark, which both come from surface water reservoirs.

Roche's report detailed that a person can be exposed to groundwater through vapor intrusion, drinking the water, or coming into direct skin contact with groundwater.

"Vapor intrusion testing of any nearby homes that could be impacted did not find VOC contamination migrating from contaminated groundwater into indoor air in the residences," the report states.